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HP splits in two in October 2014 separating the PC and printer business from its tech services and corporate hardware operations. The will create two companies with the idea that the 2 businesses are better managed separately.

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The Russian ruble goes over 40 to the U.S. dollar in October 2014, with the impact of capital outflows, the weakening foreign investment climate and western sanctions.

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Total household debt in Thailand at $306 billion in the second quarter of 2014, or 80% of GDP, is twice what it was in 2010. A assistant governor of the central bank expects sharp decline in spending rates. Low water level in dams is likely to affect the agricultural economy. The slowdown in China is lowering Thai exports. The result is a sharply slowing economy with growth expected at 1.5% for 2014.

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The Sunflower Movement in Taiwan and public opinion following the Hong Kong student protests.

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Jimmy Lai is one of the prominent Hong Kong businessmen who have actively spoken up for universal suffrage without screening of candidates by the government, instead of sitting by on the sidelines. He says he is not talking to the student leaders, and it is upto the young generation to take the initiative as it is about their future. At age 12 Lai was smuggled into Hong Kong by parents in Guangdong province in 1960, making him one of the older generation who has lived through the many changes in Hong Kong- from the British period, through the years of turmoil on the mainland in the seventies, the transition period and transfer to China under the Basic Law. He worked in factories instead of going to school, and later started his own clothing chain Giordano, followed by a move into media publishing. He is the publisher of the Apple daily and Next magazine publications which support the pro-democracy student movement. Lai says the roots of student protest are in the May Fourth Movement of 1919, a cherished part of Chinese history because it led to the awakening of China, sparked the interest in breaking away from the past leading to modernization, lasting for 2 decades till the Japanese invasion and Communist control. Lai says the protest movement is more mature than the movement in China at Tiananmen in June 1989. Another factor that makes this different is that the protest in Hong Kong does not chart out an indefinite future for China just when it is embarking on the path to modernization, the situation facing a cautious Deng in 1989 who experienced the chaos of the sixties and seventies. The movement in Hong Kong is about reinstating what is felt to be in the spirit of the Basic Law- universal suffrage in its true spirit and intent without prescreening candidates for 2017- it is a limited objective and does not risk the modernization drive, more likely to enhance it by keeping dialogue with the outside world open as China looks for new ideas to tackle many prblems left behind from the industrialization period of 1990-2014. ...

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The corruption conviction in Bangalore of the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu state in southern India. Under a Supreme Court ruling she is barred from public office for 10 years and cannot serve as chief minister even if the case is on appeal. She is in jail in Bangalore serving her sentence.

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Wages remain stagnant, labor participation rate declines, and U-6 at 11.8%, as unemployment rate declines to 5.9% in U.S. labor market.

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Saudis unilaterally cut prices of crude oil without consultation with other members of OPEC at the beginning of Oct. 2014. Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi says there is not much point in talking to other members of OPEC as everyone does as they please. The old cooperation between Gulf states Qatar, U.A.E., Kuwait and Saudi Arabia is breaking down with each country backing different rebel factions against the Assad regime in Syria-Iraq. Ali al-Naimi who normally comes in ahead of the OPEC meetings in Vienna, which meet twice a year, arrived this time at the last minute. He said meetings should be conducted only once a year and consulting can be done remotely. The old style when he guided discussion at OPEC meetings is gone. OPEC now produces about a third of the world's oil, has large spare capacity of 3.8 million barrels a day in 2014 or 4% of global oil supply in a crisis, according to IEA. Yet it faces pressures from the increasing shale production in North America and the decline in demand from Asia. Brent crude is at about $92 in October 2014. OPEC production in August 2014 was split as follows- Saudis 9.6, Iraq 3.0, Iran 3.0, U.A.E. 2.9. Kuwait 2.9, Venezuela 2.3, Qatar 0.7, Libya 0.5, Algeria 1.2, Nigeria 1.8, Angola 1.7 (millions of barrels a day, source: OPEC)...

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A veteran campaigner for Hong Kong values and civil rights presents his view of the Hong Kong protests for free elections. Is it in China's long term interest to let the same "cronyism" that is embedded into China's political governance be imposed on Hong Kong, when cronyism and corruption eventually lead to lower productivity, poor economic decisionmaking, and slower growth. Future leaders may need Hong Kong people to tackle these economic problems emerging from poor governance common to many countries leading to stagnation. With a rapidly aging population China risks falling into the middle income trap. The past governance achieved economic gains but an open system with a truly open Hong Kong is likely to be needed to generate the kind of economic growth needed inthe future. Opportunities lost can never be recovered in the same way again.

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Maersk increased capacity by 10% in 2011 when the container shipping industry was experiencing a downturn. Maersk continues to build efficient capacity with the larger E-ships, including the Mary Maersk described in this article.

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Turkey's parliament authorizes the government to take steps needed for national security as Islamic State forces approach its borders, attacking the Kurdish town of Kobani. Turkey is reluctant to participate in the coalition against Islamic State until the Obama administration makes clear what its policy is in relation to the bigger problem it sees causing the conflict- the Assad regime's violent suppression in Syria. Turkey wants the U.S. to impose a no-fly zone so that the Assad air force is grounded. Turkey also has to consider the protection of Kurdish towns from the Islamic State because of public opinion in the Kurdish population of Turkey.

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Speaking at a banking conference, advisors including the head of Russia's largest retail bank Sberbank, German Gref, minister of the economy, Aleksei Ulyukayev, and head of the central bank , Elvira Nabiullina, express deep concern about the economic prospects in 2015. Foreign investment is down from about $90 billion in the 1st quarter of 2013 to a negligible amount in the 3rd quarter of 2014. Capital outflows following the Ukraine crisis are estimated at about $110 billion by former finance minister Alexsei Kudrin. The ruble dropped to its lowest level against the dollar since the 1990's. And the sharp decline in oil prices with Brent crude at about $90 is another risk factor as 50% of the budget comes from oil and gas revenues and 60% of exports are still oil and gas, with no serious or effective effort to diversify under the Putin adminstration. Putin told the banking conference that a deficit free budget and reserves of $460 billion are "fundamental factors supporting stability." Advisors and leading bankers remain unconvinced. The problem is that even at the beginning of 2014 before the Ukraine crisis foreign investment had slowed to a trickle, similiar to what India experienced in 2013. The central bank head says her effort to open up the bond markets in Russia to foreign investors is now in vain because there are few foreign investors. Instead of reversing the situation as is happening in India with the new Modi administration, policy under Putin and the Ukraine conflict may have scared investors away with the increasing western sanctions and stagflation (estimated 8% inflation and about 0.5% growth in 2014). The head of Sberbank Mr. Gref told the banking conference- "The Soviet Union broke apart because of the mind boggling incompetence of the Soviet leadership. They did not respect the laws of economic development." The problem with sovereign reserves is that it can protect a sovereign currency such the Russian ruble or the Brazilian cruzeiro to some extent, but today's vibrant economies need foreign investment and foreign technology for growth. Even a country such as China with a trillion dollars in reserves needs the reserves in its special case because of its billion plus aging population, and is no exception to these laws of economic development about the need for foreign technology and foreign investment. ...